Piano Man
by Zane's Girl- Jo
Summary: Tim has a hidden talent, besides writing, that gets discovered one night after dinner at Ducky's. Established McGiva.


**Piano Man**

******Rifiuto: Non Miriena**

******Summary: Tim has a hidden talent, besides writing, that gets discovered one night after dinner at Ducky's. Established McGiva. **

The glasses clinked, the children chased each other around the house, chatter filled the dining room, and in the living room, sitting by the big window, near the fireplace, sat the old grand piano, untouched and lacking the love it had seen years ago in Scotland. The beautiful black-painted wood and white keys glistened in the light from the fire, and it beckoned to him, calling to him, from the dining room where he sat with his wife, listening to a story Ducky was telling, as their two children dashed around the room with their "cousins."

It had been years, literally, since they had all been together; since resigning from NCIS, he and Ziva had moved to Seattle, where they were back at NCIS, running their own teams. And since they'd married in secret, before Ziva ended up in Somalia, Tim and Ziva had had three beautiful children- Gianna, ten, Malachi, eight, and six-year-old twins Aurora and Nicholas. Tony and Abby, who had married a year after Tony had resigned from NCIS with Tim and Ziva, had two children, Maria and Olga four and two. Eventually, Tim grabbed Gianna's arm as she passed by, whispered softly to her, and she nodded, instantly climbing onto her chair by her father as Malachi climbed into Ziva's lap and the twins each went to Gibbs and Ducky, settling down to listen to Ducky's story.

Again, it called to him, and after a moment, Tim got up, pressing a kiss to his wife before excusing himself, saying he was going to slip off to the restroom. When he returned, he went to the living room, staring at the piano. Something drew him forward, and he made his way to the piano, taking a seat at the bench. The keys were beautiful, smooth and soft ivory, the black ivory keys as soft and smooth as the black headboard. A moment passed, before he plucked a key, before making a face at the realization how out of tune the beautiful piano was.

After quickly retuning it, he returned to the bench, and quickly ran a few scales before settling on a tune he'd grown up playing. The familiar song soon began to flow from his fingertips, and he closed his eyes, letting himself return to those days when he'd grown up listening to Billy Joel's songs on his parents' record player, when he'd taught himself to play Piano Man on both the guitar and the piano. When he'd taught Sarah to play the piano, after finishing with his own lessons. He thought back to when he'd played piano for a restaurant while at John Hopkins, how he'd give impromptu concerts for his friends and family, while he taught kids to play piano and earned a living while going to school at MIT. And now, it was that Billy Joel tune that came to mind, as he sat at Ducky's baby grand, the beginning flowing from his fingertips as he traveled back to his time playing piano to get through school-

_"It's nine o'clock on a Saturday_  
_The regular crowd shuffles in_  
_There's an old man sitting next to me_  
_Makin' love to his tonic and gin"_

Ziva looked up, hearing the voice coming from the living room, and after a moment, pressing a kiss to Malachi's sandy hair before following the source of the music. While the others talked and laughed, Ziva stopped in the doorway to the living room, watching her husband play the piano. She knew that Tim had dappled in piano and guitar in college, but she didn't know that he could really _play_.

"_Ima_, where's A-" But Malachi stopped, hearing his father's voice. Slowly, Ziva knelt down, wrapping her arms around her oldest son as her two youngest children joined them. She pressed a kiss to her son's cheek, before standing and taking his hand. Quietly, she led their children into the room, taking a seat in the armchair near the piano, as her children gathered around her. Eventually, though, the others joined in, hearing the singing from the living room.

_"He says, "Son, can you play me a memory?_  
_I'm not really sure how it goes_  
_But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete_  
_When I wore a younger man's clothes"_

_La la la, de de da_  
_La la, de de da da da"_

She only looked up when Gibbs entered, with Olga on his hip, the child watching Tim with wide dark eyes. Ziva said nothing, just turned back to her husband. A moment passed, as the older man took a seat on the sofa, as his grandchild clambered up beside him, and he found himself falling under the spell of the piano. He never knew that his younger "son" could play the piano- he knew he could write, for he'd read_ Deep Six_, and the subsequent sequels, but piano?

The though had never crossed his mind.

Although, now that he found himself listening...

_"Sing us a song, you're the piano man_  
_Sing us a song tonight_  
_Well, we're all in the mood for a melody_  
_And you've got us feelin' all right_

"Aunt Abby! Uncle Tony, _come on_!"

"Gia, sweetie, where are we going?" Abby asked, as she followed the ten-year-old into the living room; Tony and Ducky were engrossed in conversation with Palmer, who hadn't noticed Breena and their daughter, Nora, leave the room and head towards the music. Once they reached the living room, Gianna got behind Abby and pushed her towards the nearest chair.

"Sit, Aunt Abby!" She whispered, once the Goth was sitting. The older woman turned to her.

"But why-"

"Shh!" Gia put a finger to her lips, shushing her loudly, before announcing, "I'll go get the others!"

And then she was gone.

_"Now John at the bar is a friend of mine_  
_He gets me my drinks for free_  
_And he's quick with a joke or to light up your smoke_  
_But there's someplace that he'd rather be_  
_He says, "Bill, I believe this is killing me."_  
_As the smile ran away from his face_  
_'Well I'm sure that I could be a movie star_  
_If I could get out of this place'_

_Oh, la la la, de de da_  
_La la, de de da da da"_

"Uncle Tony! Uncle Palmer! Ducky!" Gianna put her small hands on her hips as she faced the three men still in the dining room, so absorbed in their conversation. When she got no response, she stormed over to Tony, and grabbed his hand. She tugged, trying to get him out of his chair, before she stopped, thinking. A moment passed, before she went to Tony and quickly pinched his arm. He yelped in surprise, turning to see Gia standing next to him, her mother's glare on her pretty features.

"What's wrong, Gia-bug?" He asked. She grabbed his hand, tugging.

"Come on, Uncle Tony. You too, Uncle Palmer!" She demanded, leading the way into the living room. Ducky chuckled, watching the child go, before turning to his assistant.

"Go on, Mr. Palmer. I'll get cleaned up here."

But Palmer shook his head. "No, really, Doctor, I can-"

"Go on. I will be in soon." Shaking his head, Palmer did as ordered, leaving the older man in the dining room.

_"Now Paul is a real estate novelist_  
_Who never had time for a wife_  
_And he's talkin' with Davy who's still in the Navy_  
_And probably will be for life_

_And the waitress is practicing politics_  
_As the businessmen slowly get stoned_  
_Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness_  
_But it's better than drinkin' alone_

_Sing us a song, you're the piano man_  
_Sing us a song tonight_  
_Well, we're all in the mood for a melody_  
_And you've got us feelin' all right"_

Ducky chuckled softly as he began to clear away the dishes. As he was returning to the dining room, he stopped; for a brief moment, he thought he heard the keys of his mother's piano being played. But he shook his head, dismissing it. That piano hadn't been touched since he was a boy, growing up in Scotland, when he himself had taken lessons on it.

After a hearing it again, though, he decided to investigate, and so headed into the living room.

_"It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday_  
_And the manager gives me a smile_  
_'cause he knows that it's me they've been comin' to see_  
_To forget about life for a while_  
_And the piano, it sounds like a carnival_  
_And the microphone smells like a beer_  
_And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar_  
_And say, 'Man, what are you doin' here?'_

_Oh, la la la, de de da_  
_La la, de de da da da"_

Ducky was surprised to find McGee sitting at the piano, playing the familiar tune of_ Piano Man_, as well as singing the lyrics, his eyes closed, lost in some sort of memory from long before this moment in time. Gia turned, and letting out a gasp, she got up, rushing to Ducky and throwing her arms around him. He patted her head, before letting her lead him to the big armchair near the fireplace. Once he was seated, she climbed into his lap and settled down to listen to her father's voice. Sure, Tim was no Billy Joel, but his voice was beautiful nonetheless.

_"Sing us a song, you're the piano man_  
_Sing us a song tonight_  
_Well, we're all in the mood for a melody_  
_And you've got us feelin' all right"_

No one, not even Ziva, knew that Tim had played piano to help put himself through school. No one except for Sarah, who had kept it secret, because it was her special thing with her brother, and she refused to let anyone else take it away from her.

As Tim finished the tune and opened his eyes, he found everyone gathered around him, entranced by the beauty that had come from the old piano. Applause soon broke out, along with cheers and questions of how and where he learned to play and why he was hiding such a talent for so long. But Tim didn't notice anyone else. He swallowed, turning to Ducky, face ashen as he quickly got up. "I... I'm so sorry, Ducky. I didn't mean to-"

But the older man gave him a soft smile. "You, Timothy, my boy, have brought life back into this old piano. Where in the world did you learn how to play?" Tim blushed, visibly relaxing when he realized he wasn't in trouble.

"I took-"

"Daddy!" He scooped Aurora into his arms, settling her onto his hip as he continued.

"I took piano lessons as a kid, and I... I taught piano lessons when I was at MIT; I also... played piano in lounges and bars when I was at John Hopkins, to put myself through school. I grew up listening to Billy Joel, so..." He shrugged, sheepish, as Ziva joined him, wrapping an arm around his waist. "I learned how to play piano and then taught myself to play Billy Joel's music..." He trailed off, embarrassed.

"It was beautiful, darling." Ziva whispered, as Tim turned to her. He gave her a soft smile, kissing her gently. Ducky watched the younger man for a moment, before saying,

"Timothy, how would you like the piano?" He watched Tim's green eyes widen in shock.

"I... sorry?"

"How would you like to have the piano? It has been gathering dust for the last several years since Mother's death, but tonight, well, you proved that there is still life in the beautiful old instrument. And I believe, that it will be in good, loving hands with you and Ziva." The child turned to their father, begging him, and after a moment, Tim turned to Ziva.

"What do you say, Zi? It's your call." She gave him a big smile.

"I think it's a wonderful idea. And that means that you can teach the kids and me, how to play, Mr. Piano Man." She whispered.


End file.
